Minneapolis – Best
Buy interim CEO G. Mike Mikan sent an open letter to company employees that
gave few details on Brian Dunn’s quick exit, but promised to keep staffers in
the loop and come up with a new plan for growth.
Mikan tried to
allay worries over Dunn’s unexpected resignation and the news that the chain’s
board of directors was investigating the former CEO for possible personal
misconduct.
Mikan said he
would ensure that employees learned of any additional news about the company
from its executives first. Mikan, who has been on Best Buy’s board since 2008,
did not go into any further details regarding Dunn’s departure.
Mikan said he is
pleased with the priorities put in place to help company growth, but at the
same time the company’s senior leadership team will create a new “blueprint for
growth.”
“This blueprint
will be a longer-term plan designed to capitalize on the actions we already are
implementing, and position Best Buy for sustained, profitable growth in the
years ahead. I look forward to sharing more about this exciting work as it progresses,”
Mikan stated in the letter.
Mikan also filled
in the Blue Shirts on his past, saying that while he has never worked in CE, he
is a Minnesota native and has kept his eye on the company. Mikan was an
executive at UnitedHealth. He is also the grandson of George Mikan, the former
NBA star.
Dunn resigned
earlier as Best Buy CEO and director before an audit committee investigation
into personal misconduct could be completed.
The board is
continuing its investigation, Ron Hutcheson, a spokesman for the Best Buy
board, told TWICE, and doesn’t expect it to be a “drawn-out process … [it
should] take weeks, rather than months.”
The board is
looking at both internal and external candidates for the CEO position, he said,
which includes Mikan.
